


Questions and Answers

by MonPetitTresor



Series: Reverse Verse [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean as Denel, Flirting, Sam as Samael, reverse!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-31 04:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonPetitTresor/pseuds/MonPetitTresor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel has some questions and he's determined to get some answers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gabriel had no idea why he hadn’t told his brother about Samael. Three days had gone by since the two had met in that motel room and Gabriel hadn’t seen hide nor hair of either Sam or Ruby. It had given Gabriel plenty of time to think, to worry – and to freak out. Because despite what people said, always claiming that Castiel was the smart one, Gabriel wasn’t stupid. One of the first things he’d done when he’d gotten some private time was look up the name Samael. It was one that seemed vaguely familiar. What he found had only made his worry grow.

Wikipedia had been particularly helpful – and frightening.

_‘Samael – Hebrew for “Venom of God” or “Poison of God”, also known as Sammael or Samil – is an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is an accuser, seducer, and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil. Rabbinical writings describe Samael as the guardian angel of Esau and a patron of Edom (or, the Roman empire)._

_He is considered in Talmudic texts to be a member of the heavenly host (with often grim and destructive duties). One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the main archangel of death. He remains one of Yahweh's servants even though he wants men to do evil. As an angel, Samael resides in the seventh heaven, although he is declared to be the chief angel of the fifth heaven, the reason for this being the presence of the throne of glory in the fifth heaven._

_In The Holy Kabbalah (Arthur Edward Waite, 255), Samael is described as the "wrath of God", and is listed as fifth of the archangels of the world of Briah. Also in the Kabbalah, Samael was said to be the Serpent who tempted Eve into sin. He even seduced and impregnated her with Cain. Samael then became the consort of Adam's first wife, Lilith. He created with her a host of demon children, including a son, Sariel, the "Sword of Samael" (or Asmodai)._

_According to some myths, Samael was mated with Eisheth Zenunim, Na'amah, Lilith and Agrat Bat Mahlat, all except Lilith being 'angels' of sacred prostitution._

_It should be noted, however, that this link is a dubious one and likely arises from a case of mistaken identity equating Samael with the demon Azazel who is himself in Zoharistic lore a combination of the angels Azael and Aza.’_

Another site had said:

_Samael is a major demon in Jewish demon lore and Christian demonology. He also plays important roles within occultism. He is credited as being in the heavenly hierarchies as well as being among the fallen angels. In the Chronicles of Jerahmeel Samael is described as being "chief of the Satans." Even though this work depicted him as being one of the most wicked angels, he is nevertheless said to be an angel in the service of the Lord._

_The evil side of Samael is depicted in Jewish lore. He is the angel of death, and collector of Moses' soul. In the Haggadah Samael is the guardian of Jacob's brother Esau. This presents Samael as a wicked angel because Esau is wicked only thinking of worldly things and drawn to worship in places of idolatry. Samael in the Zohar is associated with Amalek, the god of the physical world. The text describes Samael as Amalek's occult name. The Zohar describes Samael as meaning "poison of God." A. E. Waite in his work The Holy Kabbalah defines Samael as the "severity of God" and also equates him with Satan and the Serpent, Lilith being his bride. In Moncure Daniel Conway's Demonology and Devil-Lore, Samael, functioning as the left hand of God, is consort of both the voluptuous maiden Naamah and the arch-she-devil Lilith._

The implications of that had left Gabriel privately panicking. It’d taken a night at a bar, two fist fights, and a willing body under his to burn out that panic. Only then had he been able to finally sleep and then, come morning, take the time to think about what all of this meant.

Any hunter knew that the lore wasn’t always right. Gabriel and Castiel had learned that even more ever since they’d come into contact with angels. It was rarely ever right where angels were concerned. If they’d even entertained the idea that it was, the laughter they got from Dean when he caught them reading up had been enough to convince them otherwise. So there was every chance that what Gabriel had read about Samael wasn’t entirely true. If even a bit of it was, though…

According to myths, he’d been mated with Lilith. _Lilith._ The one that he claimed was trying to set Lucifer free, the one who wanted Gabriel to kill her, who was responsible for Castiel being dragged down into Hell. That bitch was at the top of Gabriel’s hit list and according to Sam, he couldn’t even kill her without setting the freaking devil free!

And then there were the connections between Samael in the lore and Azazel. Anything linked to Azazel was tainted for the Novak brothers.

So who the hell was Samael really? Most of the lore seemed to think he was some kind of fallen angel. _Archangel._ The archangel of _death_! Yet the way his eyes had changed had been no doubt demonic in Gabriel’s view. Only, different. Was it possible to be a demonic angel?

He posed that question to Dean when the three of them were eating breakfast after Gabriel’s personal night-long freakout.

Shock lit Dean’s face – or, his vessel’s face, really – at the question. “What on earth makes you ask that?”

This was where Gabriel had to be very, very careful. He still wasn’t sure why he wasn’t telling them about Sam. In the back of his head rose a voice, whispering ‘ _I’m here to help. Ah!  Let me clarify, first. I’m not here to help your brother, or his group of feather dusters. I’m here to help_ you _._ ’ And then, another whisper, ‘ _I’m not telling you not to tell your brother, because I have a feeling you’d disregard that anyways. But do try and keep my name away from the holy stalker your brother has going on. Bad enough if he figures out you’ve got someone less than perfect on your side. I don’t really feel like having my name thrown in the mix and ended up on the wrong end of an angelic summoning_.’

Sam had seemed pretty adamant about not having anything to do with the ‘feather dusters’ and until Gabriel knew why, he wasn’t going to sell the guy out. It was the least he owed him for the information he’d provided. Proving that the information checked out, first. “I was doing more research and I came across a few things that made me wonder. Is it possible?”

Years of lying professionally had made Gabriel a pro at it. The only person that was ever difficult to trick was Castiel. His brother was giving him a look now that made Gabriel think he knew there was more to this, but thankfully he didn’t say anything.

Dean stirred absently at his coffee cup. It was kind of amusing just how human the angel looked in comparison to others they’d dealt with. He was a hell of a lot better than, say, Uriel. Sometimes Gabriel amused himself with the thought that Dean acted more human than _Castiel_ did.

“It both is and isn’t.” Dean finally answered. He must’ve saw the frustrated look on Gabriel’s face because he cut him off with a glare before he could say anything. “It’s not easy to explain. We don’t exactly have a lot of angels trying to go make themselves demons. Why does it matter? If any were found, my brothers and sisters would take them down in a heartbeat. They wouldn’t let an abomination like that just run around free.”

Well that answered that question. Gabriel hummed a little but said nothing as he picked up his own sugar laden coffee. The decision to keep quiet about Sam seemed much smarter now. If the angels killed him, Gabriel would never get the chance to figure out what the hell was going on, or why he’d want to bother helping Gabriel.

So that topic was shut down. That was fine, though. Gabriel had plenty of other questions. The breakfast table in a nice, public place, with his brother right across from him, seemed the perfect place to ask them. Because Gabriel had quite a few questions, especially about the angels’ involvement in all of this, and there were a few suspicions that were beginning to crop up that he didn’t really like. Time to see if they maybe panned out. It’d all hinge on just how honest little Denel was. “Y’know, I’ve been trying to research a bit about the seals, find some sort of pattern or something. Maybe figure out a way to get ahead instead of always scrambling to catch up.” He told them.

Castiel nodded his head approvingly. “That seems to be a worthwhile endeavor.” His voice, always deep, had seemed to become even deeper after hell. It was a low rasp now that was so at odds with his slender appearance.

Smirking, Gabriel sipped off his drink. “I know, right? I get smart ideas once in a while.” He winked, just to make sure Castiel get upset about that comment. He tended to get a bit protective when he felt Gabriel was ‘putting himself down’. “The thing is, I realized I’m an idiot. We’ve been chasing seal after seal here, trying to get ahead of these guys, when the whole time we really should’ve been hunting down the final seal and protecting _that_. I mean, all the others are important, and we should totally stop them. But in the end it’s that final one that’s important, right?”

Was it just him or did Dean suddenly look a bit more tense? Was that a shiftiness appearing in his eyes?

Gabriel’s smile sharpened a little. He couldn’t quite help it. Castiel was good at books, but Gabriel was good at _people._ Apparently that included angels. He could see that he’d put Dean on edge here and it had all his spidey-senses tingling. Hiding his attention underneath the mask of smiles and an air-headedness that fooled most people, just like he usually did, Gabriel fixed his attention on Dean and tried not to look as suspicious as he felt. “I also realized we were idiots for not just asking you what they are. I mean, you’re an angel. So then I figured, you tell us the last seal and we can set out today an go track it down, see about protecting it. While we do that we can get Bobby and the others out there trying to protect the other ones. It’s a win-win situation!”

Helping without even realizing it, Castiel perked up at the suggestion and he turned expectantly towards Dean. It probably shouldn’t have given Gabriel such perverse satisfaction to see the angel on the hot seat. Those suspicions were starting to look just a little more plausible.

“Things aren’t quite as simple as that.” Dean finally answered. His tone was easy – almost too easy. And his expression had turned carefully blank.

Even Castiel was noticing things now. He set down his fork and turned a little more towards Dean. Gabriel knew what it was like to be under that laser stare and knew that Dean had to be feeling mighty uncomfortable at the moment. Cas had a way of looking down inside a guy that left them feeling like all their secrets were laid bare. “Dean? What do you mean?”

Kudos to Dean’s acting skills. He didn’t shift around in his seat at all. But he didn’t actually meet Castiel’s eyes, either. “There’s a lot I’m not privy to, not being so high ranking as my superiors, and there’s a lot I can’t just openly discuss. Let’s just say it’s not as simple as you think and leave it at that. What we’re doing is the best thing right now.”

“Seems like a waste of time to me.” Gabriel chimed in.

A gesture from his brother, hand up and palm out, silenced Gabriel. The older Novak never broke his stare away from the angel. “Dean.” He repeated his name, firmer this time. “What is going on?”

For the first time, Gabriel felt just a little bad. There was something pained in Dean’s eyes when they finally lifted to Castiel’s. “Cas, don’t ask me that.”

“Dean,”

“I’m sorry, Cas.” He sounded it, too. Truly, honestly sorry. “I can’t tell you anything else.” Abruptly he straightened up, shoulders squaring and his expression going blank. “I must go. I’ll find you when we know the next seal.” And with no more than that, he was gone.

The breakfast table fell quiet for a few long moments as the two processed everything that had just happened. Gabriel’s suspicions had been as good as confirmed after that. Between everything that Gabriel had seen, their interactions with angels so far, and then the little tidbits that Sam had dropped, it’d left Gabriel wondering just how innocent the angels were in all of this – and just how dedicated they were to stopping things. Dean’s shifty reaction wasn’t a good sign.

“There is something they are not telling us.” Castiel finally said, his voice hesitant and – Gabriel winced 0 slightly hurt. When his bright blue eyes fixed on his brother, there was an echo of that hurt in them. “You were aware of this.”

Gabriel winced again. “I had my suspicions.” He tried to smile at his brother, even if it came out a bit crooked. “I’ve always been more suspicious than you, bro.”

“This was more than that. What do you know that you are not telling me, Gabriel?”

His tone made it absolutely clear that he wouldn’t take the same evasions from Gabriel that he had from Dean.

For a moment Gabriel just stared over his coffee cup at his brother. A brother who he’d once been closer to than anyone else on this planet, and who he’d been steadily drifting apart from ever since Hell. No, since before that. Since the deal had first been made. They’d been drifting apart ever since then and both of them hated it. Staring at him, Gabriel suddenly couldn’t find it in himself to keep up that drifting. One of them had to reach out.

So Gabriel did. There, in the little diner, he told Castiel about Sam, and hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam had waited until almost the end of the third day before he finally contacted Gabriel. He did it through the phone, amusing himself by sending out a text.

_6 th street, Riptide, 10 sharp. No stalkers - S_

The things that humans came up with never failed to amuse him. So many neat, nifty little technological things that allowed them just a sliver of the connection that all angelic beings shared. It was like a part of them was constantly striving for that which they would never have and which angels were created with. That connection to the Host – to Home.

Thoughts of that only served to wipe away Sam’s smile and bring a scowl back to his face. Resting comfortably in his booth at the bar, he didn’t notice how a few people shied away at his scowl, or how his annoyance created an aura around him that seemed to push people back. No one wanted to dare get too close to the brooding man in the corner. That animal instinct that all humans carried warned them that, no matter how nice looking, this man was trouble.

The scowl stayed in place firmly until his phone buzzed in his hand and he read the response his little human had sent.

_Bossy bitch, aintcha? We’ll be there – G_

Amusement curved Sam’s lips. Dealing with Gabriel Novak was going to be so very interesting. He was a brash, brassy, sassy little shit of a human – Sam’s favorite kind. Even when scared the kid had given as good as he’d gotten. He reminded Sam of someone he had once known, someone he’d once loved and respected. Gabriel was like him, only sharper, sassier.

The ‘we’ in Gabriel’s text hadn’t gone unnoticed. So when the hunter showed up with his brother in tow it wasn’t any real surprise. Sam just let himself be grateful that they’d taken the ‘no stalker’ rule to heart. At least, so far as he could tell. He didn’t sense anyone following them. Unless the feather dusters had gotten better at being able to hide themselves – unlikely – there was no one with them. _Perfect_. Right now Sam’s day was working on a high note. He really didn’t need to deal with something like that.

He put on his best smile when Gabriel and Castiel saw him and started heading his way. Relaxing back in his seat, he let his legs stretch out their full length and crossed them at the ankle. Much more comfortable than trying to stuff himself into the small booth at this crappy little dive bar.

Just because he knew it would freak them out, Sam waited until they were right at the table and then let his grin turn sharp and a bit dangerous, and he greeted them with “Mr. Dickens, Mr. Frost, so pleased you could join me. Please, have a seat, won’t you?”

He used those last names deliberately. They were the names the boys had checked into their motel with.

Castiel froze at that, those insanely bright blue eyes of his widening and then narrowing on Sam. Gabriel, on the other hand, snorted and dropped right down into the booth. “I thought you said ‘no stalkers’.” The hunter commented dryly.

A husky laugh rumbled Sam’s chest. He slanted his eyes to Gabriel and smirked. “I like to keep track of what’s mine.”

The sound that Castiel made was most definitely a growl as he took a cautious seat next to his brother. His narrowed gaze was firmly locked on Sam and there was open hostility there. “My brother is not your possession.”

 _Oh, look at this one_. The touch of Heaven was all over Castiel. Not just in the handprint on his arm, which Sam could feel was there even through the man’s clothes, but almost pouring off of every inch of him. He’d been touched by an angel – and Sam wondered just how figurative that sentence actually was. He pushed that thought down and let himself focus instead on giving Castiel a smile that he knew would grate on the man’s nerves. _This is too much fun._ “Whatever helps you sleep at night, angel boy.” Sam said dryly. He winked at Gabriel and then sat back once more before reaching out to pick up his drink. Somehow he doubted Castiel was done yet and it would be better to get this all out in the open right now.

Sure enough, it only took a second for Castiel to speak again, his voice overriding whatever it was that Gabriel had been about to say. “I do not know what kind of game you are playing here, or for what purpose you’ve decided to latch onto my brother for, but I’m telling you that it stops now. I will not let you hurt him.”

This time the laugh that Sam gave was deeper and full of mirth. It had a few heads turning their way and a couple people smiling at them while some others seemed to inch back more. Shaking his head, Sam let the laughter slip away even though his smile stayed in place. He looked up through long lashes at the two humans across from him, one of whom sat stiffly and the other was grinning at him. “If I’d intended to hurt Gabriel, I would’ve simply left him with sweet Ruby.” He arched an eyebrow at Castiel and smirked. “Didn’t your brother tell you? I’m only here to help.” Sam laid his hand over his heart at that and was amused by the eye roll from Gabriel and the disbelieving look that Castiel sent his way.

“I find it hard to believe a demon would offer any kind of help that we want.”

Sam lifted his hand from his heart and held up one long finger. “Ah! First mistake – assuming I’m anything as simple as a pathetic demon.” Just for the hell of it, he let his eyes change, there and gone again in a blink. Then he leaned forward ever so slightly, knowing that the power around him would be palpable even to these two little humans, and he let his threat flash in his eyes. “Second mistake – assuming that I care one single bit about what you want or believe. I’m not here to help _you_.”

That was enough to wipe the smile off of both their faces. Whereas Castiel looked furious, Gabriel finally started to look annoyed. “Hey!” he snapped, glaring at Sam. “Watch it. That’s my brother you’re talking to.”

“So it is.” Sam let the power draw back in and he leaned back once more until the sense of threat was gone. Not forgotten – oh, no. He knew these two wouldn’t be stupid enough to forget what kind of a threat Sam could be. But he wasn’t putting it out in any deliberate display.

Sam let it go, satisfied that his point had been made with Castiel for the moment. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that he wasn’t here for _him_. To that point, he ignored the older of the two and turned his attention to the one he actually cared about. “I trust you’ve had time to think about the things I’ve said. Are you still in the freaking out stage, or am I lucky enough to have you in the ready to listen portion of events? Because if it’s the first, I’d really like to know now. I’ve got better things I could be doing with my time.”

“What do you want with him?” Castiel asked firmly.

Gabriel shot his brother a look, one that clearly told him to shut up and let Gabriel speak for himself. Then the younger turned back to Sam. “I’ve done my research. Had my little ‘oh shit’ session. Now I’m ready for some answers.”

“Good.” That was very good. He’d expected nothing less, really. “I’d tell you not to believe half of what you read, but if you’re as good as your reputation suggests than I shouldn’t have to. Ask your questions, Gabriel. I’ll answer if I feel like it.”

That earned him another eye roll from Gabriel. Yet, there was something in his eyes, some sort of spark that told Sam the hunter was enjoying their conversation as much as he was. Talking to people, getting information, bantering back and forth like this, _this_ was what Gabriel was good at, it was what he enjoyed. “We’ll get to the rest of the stuff later. First thing I wanna know is why you’re doing this? And don’t say it’s just because I’m interesting. I mean, I know I’m awesome, but there’s gotta be more to it than that.”

Sam made a soft ‘tsk’ sound. “Try again, sweetheart. That’s an answer you’re not quite ready for yet.”

“No bullshit, Sammy.” Gabriel growled.

From the view Sam had, it looked like the kid was fingering the hilt of the demon knife in his jacket and that just amused Sam to no end. That amusement brightened Sam’s features and had him raising his eyebrows. “You’re cute if you think that half of this isn’t bullshit already, _Gabby_.” Still, he supposed he had to give him something, otherwise he’d just keep nagging at it. There was no way Sam was planning on giving him the truth. That wasn’t something any of them were ready for yet. But he could give them something. Though, not without just a little bit of taunting first. It wasn’t in him to just hand over information. “Isn’t stopping the devil from rising a good enough reason to attach myself to you two?”

“No.” Castiel said flatly.

Chuckling, Sam shook his head. “You two really need to work on your trust issues. You’ll give a boy a complex.” He traced his hand over his glass, one finger running lightly along the rim. How was the best way to put this? “Let’s just say… I’m doing a favor for a very old friend.”

“And that favor involves helping me?” Gabriel asked skeptically.

“Mm.” The sound Sam made could’ve been confirmation, or it could’ve been something else entirely. The answer he’d given them was all they needed to know right now. Anything beyond that was his own business. “Next question.”

“Are you really an archangel?”

He really should’ve figured that’d be Gabriel’s next question. Sam said nothing one way or the other. He just sat there and smiled at Gabriel, sipping on his drink and waiting. It only took a second for the hunter to realize that Sam wasn’t going to answer that. The way he simply shook his head suggested that he hadn’t really expected Sam to anyways. Without arguing, he just moved on to the next question. “You keep saying you’re here to help me. What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Now _that_ is a question I can answer.” Sam said. Finally, the important part of the night’s events. Drawing his legs in, he used a little manipulation of the space around them to make just a bit more room under the table. Then he tucked them underneath. Folding his arms, he rested them on the table top and leaned forward, focusing right on his hunter. “You and your brother are being led around by your noses, Gabriel. And I think you’re smart enough to see that, even if it took someone pointing it out to you.”

“Ruby…”

Sam scoffed. He couldn’t help how his lip curled up in disgust. “You think this is just about Ruby? Wake up and use that brain I know you have in there, Gabriel. Ruby’s not the only one manipulating you. Come on now. Heaven wants Lucifer free just as badly as Hell does.”

“What would they want Lucifer free?” Castiel demanded.

It wasn’t Sam who answered – it was Gabriel. He was staring right at Sam as he slowly said “They want the Apocalypse, don’t they? They want this grudge match to go down.”

Sam just smiled at him. He’d known Gabriel would start to figure things out with the right prodding. “Michael’s been waiting a long time for this.” Pausing, he shifted his attention to Castiel for a moment, easily able to see the stunned disbelief radiating off the man. “If it’s any consolation, your angel probably really didn’t know all the details. All he probably knows is that he’s not supposed to tell you about the seals, and angels are sort of programmed to obey. I’d be surprised if he isn’t at least suspicious right now, but he probably doesn’t know what his superiors are trying to do.”

“How do you know so much about all of this?” Castiel asked. His hands were under the table, most likely fisted in his pants. His tone was low and deep with a thread of pain woven underneath it. He was so close to breaking right now. Sam knew it – could _feel_ it. He had plenty of practice at feeling souls as they fought and as they broke. This one was struggling hard to stay steady and losing little by little. Those blue eyes lifted to meet Sam’s and there was a fire in them that said he may have been losing the fight but he wasn’t going to give up the war. “You stroll into our lives with talk of help, just as Ruby did, speaking outlandish things with absolutely nothing to back them up, and you expect us to – what? Accept your help? The help of a being who might’ve once been an archangel but is now most assuredly at least partially demonic? We don’t even know what exactly you _are_. You have given us absolutely no reason whatsoever to trust you.”

Temper had always been Sam’s downfall. It burned too hot and too bright in him and he’d learned over the many, many years to control it. At least, somewhat. There were times like this however where some of it slipped out of him. He knew that his eyes had changed again and that they were glowing darkly with the power that sat inside of him, pushing at the edges of his vessel like it was straining to get free. “You watch your tone with me, Castiel Novak. Don’t you sit there and think you’re free to pass judgment on me. I’m not the only one that’s dabbled on the demonic side, now am I?”

He saw Castiel flinch and knew his barb had hit home.

“As for what I expect,” Sam continued, his voice lowering almost to a hiss, fury crackling along every word. “I don’t expect you to simply trust me. I expect to have to earn it. I expect to deal with distrust and sarcasm, no matter how little I like it. I _expect_ you two to use the brains that you were born with and actually think about the facts instead of just rushing blindly in to all of this. I _expect_ you to actually put some care and effort into _living_ instead of following mindlessly like sheep where the angels direct you.” Sitting back, he lifted his arms off the table and spread his hands, noting with a hint of satisfaction that they both flinched from the movement. It made his sneer a bit sharper. “Believe me or don’t, that’s up to you. Do whatever it is that you think you have to.” Drawing his hands back in, he pointed at Gabriel and focused straight on him. “But in the meantime, you stay far away from Lilith. She needs you to kill her and she needs you to do it at just the right time, in just the right place. Anything her or the angels send your way will be trying to push you towards just that. Much as I’d love you see you kill her, it’s got to be done by someone else.”

A few deep breaths helped Sam to find the calm that had escaped him just moments ago. Sniping with these two was going to get him nowhere. He flattened his palms on the table and drew in a careful breath. When he blew it back out, his eyes returned to normal.

They were somewhat calm when he focused on Gabriel again. “I’m doing everything I can to figure out how to stop this before it reaches the point of no return. Tracking Lilith isn’t easy, even for someone with my connections. While I’m searching for her, you two should probably head to Robert Singer’s place.” A knowing look entered Sam’s eyes. “I have a feeling you’ll need to be there for a little while.” The way he looked over Gabriel made it absolutely clear what he meant with that. He saw the hunter swallow, fighting back regret or bile or maybe a little bit of both. Sam nodded knowingly. “I’ll find you if I have any information. Otherwise, call me if you need me.”

With no more warning than that, Sam was gone.


End file.
